A Sandwich a Day: Peking Duck Sliders at Red Egg

In this great city of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's A Sandwich a Day, our daily look at sandwiches around New York. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know.—The Mgmt.

[Photographs: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt]

Unless you live in downtown Flushing near the $1 Peking Duck Bun stall, getting a taste of Peking Duck with its crisply rendered skin, tender meat and sweet bean sauce is a full-on commitment. For the good ones, you've got to order at least a whole duck, oftentimes a day in advance so the kitchen has time for the complicated prep.

At least so I though. At Red Egg, a modern-ish dim sum/cocktail bar/Chinese American restaurant on Centre Street just off of Canal, Peking duck is a casual lunch affair. For $24, you get an entire half duck, carved tableside into thin juicy nuggets and served with tender, yeasty steamed buns along with hoisin sauce, scallions, and cucumber. It's a hearty enough portion that it could feed two for lunch easily (they also serve quarter ducks for $14), or light enough to make a good appetizer for a larger group. Ed, Carey, and I shared a dish of them last week during lunch. No advance ordering necessary, hot on your table in ten minutes or less, and just as inexpensive as any of the grungy Peking duck or Chiense BBQ shops in the area with a much quieter, cleaner feel.

More

J. Kenji López-Alt is the Chief Culinary Advisor of Serious Eats, and author of the James Beard Award-nominated column The Food Lab, where he unravels the science of home cooking. A restaurant-trained chef and former Editor at Cook's Illustrated magazine, his first book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science is a New York Times Best-Seller, the recipient of a James Beard Award, and was named Cookbook of the Year in 2015 by the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

He's currently raising a daughter by day, writing his second book by night (Now with 10% more science!), and is working on Wursthall, a beer hall in downtown San Mateo which will be open by the end of 2017.